05 November 2012

Nhat Vuong “interview” – Katherine Marshall, November 3, 2012

Today, I am interviewing Katherine Marshall, that I had the chance to meet during the last Aspen Forum 2012 event occuring in Tokyo last month. She has a very long career in many influential institutions including the World Bank and I am very fortunate that she kindly accepted to answer a couple of questions for my readers.

·Tell
us a bit about your background.

I was born in Boston (my mother’s home), but my family moved
often, in the United States and then to Germany and to Africa. My father was an
idealist and a lawyer, convinced that the world should be a better place, and
he was part of international support to Africa in the early, heady years right
after independence. I went to secondary
school in England, then university in the US, but with the taste of an
international world very much part of my life and dreams.

At present I am formally “retired” from a long career at the
World Bank, and am based at Georgetown University, where I teach and do
research in an academic framework. I also lead the World Faiths Development
Dialogue, a small but ambitious and path-breaking NGO that works to bring the
vast worlds of faith much more squarely into development thinking and practice.
I also serve on several boards of wonderful organizations. These include the
Niwano Peace Prize and the Opus Prize, as well as the World Bank Community
Connections Fund.

·Tell
us what pushed you to pursue your current career.

Committed to working in international development, I had no
firm idea when I was a student of how to pursue that path. But after some time
consulting for foundations and USAID I landed in the World Bank, working first
on urban development, then agriculture. I pursued a 35 year career in the
institution, with many years as a director and mentor of young professionals,
mostly working on Africa but also Latin America and East Asia.

Then, in a sharp change of course, the President at the time,
James D. Wolfensohn, asked me in 1999 to work with him on a new and bold
venture, to engage with the worlds of religion on development issues. I have
focused ever since on this fascinating and complex challenge, which highlights
new, hitherto largely unseen practical and ethical dimensions of development
and human rights.

·What
do you enjoy the most about your current activities?

The hope of contributing new insights about fighting poverty
and advancing equity is inspiring. Working with young people is also at the
forefront of what I truly enjoy. And I enjoy writing and communicating about
what I see as the most important challenges facing our world: ending poverty
and making the goals of equity and opportunity something real and tangible.

·What
are the current challenges that you are facing and how could the people reading
this interview help you?

I navigate constantly between very large ideals and
challenges, like world inequality, climate change, and the goal of justice and
human development, and concrete goals, for example how to chart a path towards
decent sanitation for women so they have some security and respect in their
lives and how to remove obstacles that keep girls out of school. The inequality
of the world and continuing misery and lack of opportunity for so many millions
of people is a scandal, because we know better and have demonstrated that
current realities can change. I hope, first, that people reading this will want
to be part of the great effort to right inequalities and advance a broad notion
of human rights, and second that they will appreciate the complexities of the
task and be willing to engage in a serious way. That means money but above all
caring and attention. In today’s connected world both are possible, and are
indeed our responsibility.

·How
familiar are you with the concept of gamification?

It is not part of my repertoire!

·If
you are, do you think it could useful to your organization?

A glance suggests many likely applications.

·Are
you familiar with Corporate Social Responsibility?

Indeed, I have followed and engaged with many dimensions of
CSR over the past two decades.

·What
would be your advice to companies, who struggle to engage their employees to
their CSR activities? (Volunteering, donation to NGOs, etc..)

I am aware that CSR will mean different things for different
companies. The ideal, and there are inspirational examples, is that a company
follows a true triple bottom line path, that involves the pursuit of social,
environmental, and financial objectives, in a genuine balance. The wisest
company leaders look to their impact on society as well as their shareholders,
their lived behavior as well as their and creative products and business
methods and ethics. What this translates to in reality varies. For some,
financial contributions to worthy efforts are the most practical approach.
Encouraging voluntary work by employees in communities is another sensible and
feasible path. Encouraging innovation is desirable. Often working to build on
business priorities and experience (for example where water is an input
focusing on water and sanitation) can lead to exciting initiatives. Making sure
that the company furthers basic ethical practices, including respecting human
rights and working to fight corruption in all its forms, should be central and
transparent.

I see a ladder of possibilities and priorities, that range
from the most basic elemental company charity as community responsibility, as a
minimalist approach, to an ideal of business leadership in charting new paths
at both community and global level. There are rungs in between. But any company
that cares only about profits will lose out in the 21st century
world.

·How
do you feel about companies using CSR activities for their marketing.

Some cynical companies sour the reputation of CSR by
exhibiting self-interest and over-hyping what they do. That is unfortunate.

·Are
you using any social networks and why do you think it could be beneficial for
corporations to start using them?

Social networks are an exciting new facet of life and I try
to understand their potential. They offer a remarkable avenue to live actively
in our globalizing world. Corporations do use social networks in fascinating
ways, some at the forefront of creativity. I’m a believer and active user.

·What
do you think about ikifu.org?

Websites and initiatives like ikifu.org offer wonderful
potential to engage people in good causes as well as to raise funds for
important priorities and projects. It is, however, important that there be a
real appreciation of how these sexy projects fit into best practice and
national and international priorities. The challenge of strategic coordination
is an enormous one, probably the single most demanding for the international
development world. We all need to keep that in mind as we pursue our passions
and ideas.

·If
you could use crowdfunding for one of your dream, what would it be for?

My focus would be on children and my ideal would be to tackle
the issues of awful coordination among widely disparate efforts that all aim to
advance, from an international perspective, giving children a real chance of
better health and education. My particular goal now is to review in depth the
extraordinary experience of a host of faith-inspired programs that help the
most vulnerable children: orphans, trafficking victims, street children,
disabled children, and those who are abused. If we know more about these
efforts we can both support them and help them to work far better as partners,
of each other and of secular efforts. My organization, WFDD, has a bold program
to map the landscape, consult with the actors, and come up with a new framework
that can make this happen. My question to you: can crowdfunding help achieve
this dream?

We could do so much more as a world community if we could
harmonize efforts and instill a deep sense of urgency in the broad and noble
but sometimes vague global goals for children’s welfare. That won’t happen if
we can’t bridge the gulf between personal desires and funding of good things
(for example by charity donations) and the policy and political will that are
needed for them to make a real difference. Let’s do it together!

Thank you very much for your time Katherine! To answer your question. I also aim for a world where we shouldn't have to do any crowdfunding to support important causes. Supporting each other to have a better life should be the common thing to do. However I think that such change might take years to happen, so this is my pragmatic answer to such challenges.